Saturday, September 29, 2018

Cedar
Rapids, Iowa (September 29, 1973) – Butch Hartman, the pride of South
Zanesville, Ohio, improved his claim to a third national championship by
claiming the Falstaff 100 for United States Auto Club stock cars on Saturday
night at Hawkeye Downs Speedway.

Hartman put
his 1973 Dodge into the lead spot on the opening lap and was never headed,
although he had all he could do to hold off the efforts of Ernie Derr of
Keokuk, Iowa, for the final five tours of the half-mile dirt oval.

Derr’s 1972
Dodge was right on Hartman’s rear bumper when the checkered flag was thrown.
Less than a second behind Derr was Ramo Stott, also from Keokuk, Iowa, driving
a 1973 Plymouth.

The victory
was the eighth of the season for Hartman, who already wrapped up his third
straight driving championship, a feat never before accomplished in USAC stock
car history.

“One more
win will help us tie the record and that’s what we’re going after next week,”
Hartman said moments after climbing from his car.

The record
of nine wins in a season, was set by Don White of Keokuk, Iowa, in 1967. Hartman
will get his chance next Saturday at Texas World Speedway.

White, who
owns the most career wins in USAC history (49), was on hand last night, but he
smoked an engine during hot laps and wasn’t able to compete.

An estimated
3,000 braved the chilly weather and the threat of rain, which had drenched the
track several days prior to the event.

The battle
between Hartman and Derr gave them plenty to remember. They were on their feet
when Derr made a move to the outside coming out of turn two on the white flag
lap. Derr and Hartman would tangle a little heading down the backstretch but
both drivers would manage to keep their machines under control and resume their
bumper-to-bumper duel to the finish line.

Someone
suggested that it was unusual to see Hartman sweating on a rather cool night.
That brought a laugh from the champion, who said,” You’d be sweating too if you
had Ernie Derr on your tail.”

Hartman
started the feature on the outside of the front row alongside Ramo Stott.

Ramo earned
the pole position with the top qualifying time of 26.43 seconds. That bested
Hartman by a hundredth of a second.

Stott also took
the four-lap trophy dash, flashing past Derr on the last lap.

Friday, September 28, 2018

Ramo Stott of Keokuk, Iowa, collects his winnings from Hugh and Jody Deery after winning the 200-lap National Short Track Championship.

Rockford,
Ill. (September 28, 1969) – Ramo Stott, a professional race car driver of late
model stock cars, returned to the Rockford Speedway and won the National Short
Track Championship 200-lap event on Sunday afternoon. It was Stott’s first
appearance at the track this season.

Last year
Stott had set a new track in qualifying but could only muster a sixth-place
finish. He would qualify ninth fastest but start on the outside of the front
row.

Stott would
grab the lead at the onset and wouldn’t be pressured until lap 70 when Dick
Tickle, who started on the inside of the second row, applied pressure for the
next 55 circuits. Trickle would push his 1968 Mercury Comet inside and out of
Stott, trying to get by the Keokuk, Iowa, speedster.

Finally,
Trickle would pass Stott on lap 125 but not without losing some sheet metal as
the two drivers raced down the backstretch. Both cars also scraped the cement
wall as they exited turn #4.

Trickle’s
lead would be short-lived, however, as a faulty wheel bearing forced the USAC
star to limp into the pits on lap 135.

But, Stott’s
worries were not over with yet, as Fritz Wilson of Denver, Colo., in a 1969
Nova, started pushing Stott on lap 155. Stott would eventually distance himself
from Wilson but would encounter one more threat before the checkers waved.

Bob Jusola
of Mound, Minn., who set a new track record in time trials (14.63 seconds,
beating Stott’s old mark of 14.96) was nearly a full lap behind Stott when he
decided to make a move for the lead. He would gain on Stott in the closing 10
circuits but run out of laps.

Thursday, September 27, 2018

Willow
Springs, Ill. (September 27, 1981) – After being locked in a tight battle with
Brian Leslie for the lead throughout most of Sunday’s National Clay Track
Championship at Santa Fe Speedway, Arnie Gardner wound up the easy winner of
the classic event.

The $15,000
purse, featuring the Old Style contingency money, paid $6,000 to win the rich
short track show.

Leslie
settled for second, Whitey Harris finished third, Ed Sanger took fourth and
Dick Potts claimed fifth, all on the same lap with Gardner.

Gardner
earned the pole position for the 200-lap contest with fast time at 18.27 second
tour of the speedway’s longer course.

The
200-lapper began on an ominous note when Tony Izzo broke a tie-rod and slammed
into the first turn wall after taking the opening green. The incident brought
out the yellow for a complete restart of the 28-car field.

Another
yellow would appear after the restart, this time for a accident in turn two
involving Jimmy Bahlas, Ken Widdes, Larry Jackson, Ken Pohlman, Dennis Erb and
Art Fehrman.

When action
officially got underway, Paul Shafer, who started on the outside of Gardner in
row one, soared into the lead. However, Shafer’s reign was short-lived as the
leader bolted into the first turn wall and gave Gardner the upper hand and the
lead.

Numerous
yellow flags would slow the tempo of the race early on. All-out racing would
resume, though, as Gardner charged to a commanding lead with Leslie, Harris,
Sanger and Potts following behind.

The pace
changed for Gardner on lap 44 when Leslie, who tailed Gardner’s bumper for 43
laps, took over the top spot.

Tom Smedley
was the cause for the first yellow under Leslie’s reign, when a spin in turn
two brought the field to a slow crawl on lap 55.

The red flag
stopped the pace 10 laps later when John Provenzano pun in turn two and was hit
by Al Schill. Also involved were Larry Jackson, Fred Lofgren, Cloyce Friend and
Jimmy Bahlus.

When action
was under way for good, Leslie set the pace, gaining a four-car margin over
Gardner.

Gardner
regained his strength 10 laps from the 100-lap mandatory pit stop and regained
his spot in front on lap 91, a spot he would never again relinquish.

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Des Moines,
Iowa (September 26, 1981) – Joe Wallace of Kansas City, Kans., drove his Camaro
to victory in both 50-lap main events on Saturday night at the Iowa State
Fairgrounds, claiming the overall championship in the first USAC-sanctioned
stock car program at the half-mile in six years.

Series’
point leader Dean Roper increased his margin over runner-up Sal Tovella by
finishing third overall in the program but the night belonged to Wallace as he
started 12th and 11th in the pair of 50-lappers, the second of which went 53
laps, complying with the USAC green-flag finish rule.

Joe grabbed
the lead from Ken Schrader on the fifth lap of the first 50-lap feature and led
the rest of the way as Schrader took second, followed by Ramo Stott, Roper and
Herb Shannon.

Polesitter
Gordon Blankenship led the first 20 laps of the second main event before
relinquishing the lead to Wallace, who then led the balance of the race, a
late-race yellow flag for a Shannon-Schrader tangle in turn one sending the
race to completion at 53 laps.

Iowa’s own
Don White finished second in the overall standings for the program with a
runner-up to Wallace in the second main event. Blankenship was third in the
second race followed by Roper and Tovella.

Roper was
Saturday’s fastest qualifier at 24.60 seconds – a new USAC record – but was
fourth in the trophy dash behind winner Rick O’Brien.

Trailing
Wallace, White and Roper in the overall finish were Stott, Schrader, Shannon,
Tovella, John Kennedy, Blankenship and Terry Pearson.

Bickle held
off Mike Garvey of Brooks, Ky., by less than a car length in taking the crown.
Randy Porter of Greenville, S.C., Bryan Reffner of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., and
Larry Schuler of Minooka, Ill., completed the top five finishers.

“I grew up
at this track and this is the race I’ve wanted to win all my life,” Bickle said
in victory lane. “This makes my whole year. To first make the Daytona 500 and
then win this is really something.”

Indeed,
Bickle began coming to this event back in the 1960’s when his father Rich
Bickle Sr., competed on a regular basis. The younger Bickle ran his initial
National Short Track Championship event in 1979, lasting just five laps before
having to park his Ford Granada.

Sunday was
much different, however, as Bickle motored from deep in the pack to take the
lead from Reffner on lap 261 and then hold off Garvey for the win.

After a poor
qualifying run and a mechanical failure in Saturday’s qualifying races, Bickle
started the event in the 26th spot on a promoter’s option.

Up front,
Reffner grabbed the lead from his outside starting position and led the first
83 laps. During that period, the caution flew five times with perhaps the most
important coming on lap 106 when Bill Venturini tagged the turn three wall.

At that
point, Bickle ducked into the pits for his mandatory pit stop. It was a
strategy that would ultimately give him the win.

“We talked
about making our pit stop on the first caution and decided to do it right away
because we were starting in the rear anyway,” Bickle said. “Later on, I knew
that I was pretty much leading the race even though I was running seventh.
Everybody in front of me still had to make a pit stop.”

Garvey
became the first driver to post a qualifying speed of under 13 seconds in a
four-lap average. He made his pit stop at lap 227 and came up short of Bickle
at the end.

Preserving the history of Midwest Auto Racing

So much racing history has been made through the years right here in the Midwest.

From the rich dirt ovals in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska to the paved short tracks in Minnesota and Wisconsin, some of the best drivers ever to get behind the wheel of a race car competed right here in the heartland.

We all have our own story to share about our favorite driver who thrilled us everytime they rolled onto the track or that one particular race that still stands out as the greatest they ever saw.

We'll go back in history, 10, 20, 30, 40, even 50 years ago (even more) and reminisce about what has made racing in the Midwest so special for us.